from Pleasant Grove Baptist Church https://ift.tt/2UkA97F
via IFTTT No provision, none, for the desires of flesh. Strong words indeed! And a command that flies in the face of the common thought. What does it mean, "make no provision"? Similar concept to "lead us not into temptation" from the Lord's prayer. It is the thought of staying as far away as possible from that which our flesh desires. Not only rejecting, but avoiding all situations that may tempt us. Purposefully providing no opportunity to be tempted and stumble. What does it mean "desires of the flesh"? Basically everything that you want aside from what God's word wants for you. The desires for fame, pleasure, fun, wealth, food, sensuality, appearances, all those things that make us feel good but are contrary to God's will for us. Does God not want us to enjoy life? Of course He does, but there is a difference between enjoying something that is a result of righteousness, and enjoying something because you want to enjoy it. The latter leads to sin and error, then death and destruction. If we follow our desire to "feel" good, we fail to please God . It is not what we do but why. If you give to the needy because it makes you feel good and you wish to feel good in that way, that is feeding your flesh. If you do good because you wish recognition of others, to be noticed, rewarded, then that good you do for you is feeding your flesh. If you pursue a relationship or activity because you enjoy it , that is feeding your flesh. Seem extreme? How so? Are we not dead to our own wishes? Are we not crucified with Christ so that He may live in us? Are we not to commit our every moment and breath to serving God? Did He give you the day off to go enjoy yourself instead of serving others? We say the phrases, but do we live them? Are we truly considering all of our own dreams, goals, wants, desires to be dead? Do we set aside everything of our life to exclusively live for Christ? We recently had a river baptism. Beautiful ceremony, exhilarating experience. As the new saints came up out of the water, the old stayed below and "all things are made new". How then can we return to spending any time enjoying the desires of the flesh? Life is no longer ours ! At baptism we "gave our life to Christ", so what desire do we have left but to please him with every heartbeat we are granted? There is no vacation from being Christian. It's a life long 24x7 and 365 1/4 day per year commitment. We dare not pick up those old desires and act on them, ever. Life no longer belongs to us. But what if we do, what If we stumble? God is grace and mercy, but that is not an opening to sin! We dare not sin because we know forgiveness is coming. The agony! God will discipline His children! There will be consequence for open disobedience. There is a price to pay! God will ensure that the pleasure of sin is outweighed by the pain of Justice. He must, for this alone is love. Do not give any provision for sin. Do not justify sin. Do not accommodate the desires that rage within you. Instead give them to Jesus. Cry out to God how weak and depraved your flesh is, how you seek deliverance from all those fleshly desires! Give it to Him and do what you can to flea from every situation that tempts you to "feel good". Flee before the feelings arise, before the flesh rises up and the desire is overwhelming. Flee while you are far enough away from sin to avoid the pull it has on you. Flee to the church, to the Bible, to His presence. He will not leave you nor forsake you. You can behave right, by giving to Jesus all those desires to feel good. Rely on Him. Seek His presence. Not because He makes you feel good, but because He is worthy. Everything we do is to please Him because He and He alone is worthy to serve. Once again, it's all Jesus, He is the only answer .
